Paradise Tears
by Sheba the Lone Wolf
Summary: If only tears could bring you back to me..." What thoughts passed while Kiba was fighting to rescue Cheza from Jaguara? Kiba/Cheza. Songfic. One-shot. Practice. Major spoilers.


**Disclaimer: Sheba the Lone Wolf does not own Wolf's Rain or the song. **

**Pairings: Kiba/Cheza. **

**Song: If Only Tears Could Bring You Back. **

**WARNING: Spoilers. **

**Paradise Tears**

_How will I start_

_Tomorrow without you here? _

_Who's heart will guide me_

_When all the answers disappear? _

_Is it too late? _

_Are you too far gone to say_

_Best friends forever? _

_Should never have to go away. _

_What will I do? _

_You know I'm only half without you._

_How will I make it through?_

"Cheza…," Kiba whispered. "I'm coming."

His golden eyes alive with determination, the white wolf, his coat flecked with blood, forced himself to limp up the staircase and into the heart of Jaguara's keep. He knew the danger that laid in waiting was great, but he didn't dare to fear death or pain. There was no time to waste on fretting about the future; he had to find his beloved Cheza and rescue her from Lady Jaguara.

Kiba had been seeking to rescue the Flower Maiden since she had been stolen by his paradise-bound pack by Darcia; he had come close to saving her upon entering the noble's keep. He was incomplete without Cheza; he alone could not open paradise, unless the Flower Maiden was with him. He didn't think of her as a tool of opening paradise's gates, but as a companion that he would guide into its safety. He, simply, would not live without her; he lived for her.

_If only tears could bring you back to me…_

_If only love could find a way._

_What I would do, _

_What I would give, _

_If you returned to me,_

_Someday,_

_Somehow, _

_Someway. _

_If only tears could bring you back to me…_

The doors creaked as Kiba threw them open. Light flooded into the darkness from the keep's hallway, lighting a path from the door to where Cheza was contained within a glass sphere filled with a green solution.

"Cheza…," Kiba said. Relief flooded throughout him; he had found his beloved Flower Maiden. He ran down the lit path, to stand before the sphere and gaze at Cheza's perfect face: the pale skin, the pastel pink lips…if only her eyes were opened.

"Are you alright?" he inquired. He sighed with relief and placed a gentle hand on the cool glass, as carefully as though he were touching the delicate cheek of the maiden herself.

"At last, I finally found you…," Kiba whispered. Her eyes were sealed closed; there was no reply.

"Why won't you answer me?!" he demanded.

"The white wolf…"

Kiba turned, in the form of a wolf, and snarled gruesomely at the oncoming woman. Her golden and white armor clanked as she walked, a smirk plastered on her magenta lips.

"You are the one; the wolf chosen by the flower," Jaguara said. "How beautiful you are."

Kiba lunged towards the noble, but he was suddenly glued to the floor, in the center of a circle that glowed violet at its edges. With a glance at the white wolf, Jaguara walked past and stood before the glass dome that held Cheza, lifeless as she hung from the golden chains inside.

"Come. Open your eyes," Jaguara commanded. "Open them for my paradise."

With a soft sound, the Flower Maiden unleashed a power to open the false paradise, unaware that she had done so in her sleeping state. The glass burst, the solution flooding onto the floor and drenching Kiba's coat, burning his injuries. He growled; how dare this noble interfere with his reunion with Cheza.

"My prayers have been answered," Jaguara said. "Cheza, we must feast in celebration, don't you think?"

_I've cried you an ocean,_

_If you'd sail on home again. _

_Wings of emotion_

_Will carry you; I know they can. _

_Just light will guide you. _

_And your heart will chart the course. _

_Soon you'll be drifting_

_Into the arms of your true love. _

_Look in my eyes. _

_You'll see a million tears have gone by. _

_And still they're not dry. _

"Cheza…," Kiba whispered. "Cheza, sing for me."

The Flower Maiden, in the depths of the rose-strewn party room, was held within another glass dome, filled with the same solution she was accustomed to living within, heard the pleads of her lover. Even in her sleeping state, she heard and understood. And she sang to him.

Kiba heard the song of Cheza, from where he was held to the ground. Searing pains flooded throughout him as his blood was drained. Her song gave him the strength to stand, to writhe, to fight the tangled cords that bound him. And, with a howl that announced his freedom, he broke free and raced to his lover's rescue.

_If only tears could bring you back to me…_

_If only love could find a way._

_What I would do, _

_What I would give, _

_If you returned to me,_

_Someday,_

_Somehow, _

_Someway. _

_If only tears could bring you back to me…_

"Kiba…," Cheza whispered. Her voice was barely audible over the roar of the sword fight between Darcia and Jaguara. A silence fell over the room and every eye turned to see…

Kiba stood in the doorway, his eyes glowing with determination and pride, his tail curled over his back, his muscles tense, his fangs bared.

"What do you want?" Jaguara demanded. "Get out!"

"Paradise is ours!" Kiba shouted. "We're taking it back!"

Precious minutes passed. Kiba dodged the swiftness of Jaguara's sword and she, in turn, avoided his deadly jaws. He raced towards her and, raising her hand, she captured him in the in-ground circle that would hold him to the floor.

"I'll take it all!" she yelled. "Every last ounce of your strength!"

With his fangs bared, his golden eyes penetrating, Kiba took a slow step forward. And another. And again. Jaguara's hand dropped to her side, her violet eyes widening in disbelief as Kiba overcame the magnetized panel and walked towards her.

"Impossible!" Jaguara bellowed. She turned, narrowly avoiding the fangs of Hige, who slid across the floor on his side, streaking the ground with blood. Kiba leapt through the air, capturing her throat in his jaws, bursting her jugular before he landed back on the floor, ready to continue the battle. Blood shot from Jaguara's throat, sending a red spray across the floor.

"Darcia…," Jaguara whispered, turning to meet the eyes of her fellow noble. She gasped as he shoved a sword through her chest; she fell backwards onto the floor, and the battle was won.

_I hold you close_

_And shout the words I only whispered before. _

_For one more chance, _

_For one last glance. _

_There's not a thing that I would not give and more. _

A smile came to Kiba's lips as he held Cheza against his chest. Blood trickled down his forearm, staining the white robe that clad the Flower Maiden. She listened to his soothing heartbeat, smiling as she was enveloped in his warmth.

"Cheza," Kiba sighed. He kissed her forehead.

_If only tears could bring you back to me…_

_If only love could find a way._

_What I would do, _

_What I would give, _

_If you returned to me,_

_Someday,_

_Somehow, _

_Someway. _

"Kiba…"

"Cheza, where are you? Don't try to move."

Painfully, Kiba rose to his feet in the blood-stained snow. He limped to where the Flower Maiden kneeled on the ground, her outstretched arms welcoming him. Her battered and pale body was covered with dark tangles of roots, which had never taken to the ground, though they strained to do so while Cheza watched her beloved Kiba fighting to protect her from the wretched beast who had killed each and every one of their friends beforehand.

Kiba reached Cheza's arms and, blood trickling down his white-furred cheek, collapsed before her. With a root-striped hand, ending in long, witch-like nails, the Flower Maiden stroked his head.

"Kiba, the ice is spreading fast now," Cheza whispered, feebly. "The world will freeze over. Soon, this one will disappear. This one is a forged Hanabito. This is not this one's true form."

"Your true form?" Kiba inquired. His golden eyes were slits; he wanted to close them, but fought the powerful urge to rest. He knew that, if he fell asleep, he would not awaken again. This was the end.

"Now, this one can become…," Cheza mumbled.

"Cheza…," Kiba whimpered. In the form of a dark-haired man, Kiba embraced the Flower Maiden. Her long arms swathed him.

"The world will close up for awhile and we will be apart from one another," Cheza explained. There was a deep sorrow in her whisper.

"What should I do?" Kiba asked. "I don't have anything left to protect."

As Cheza squeezed her beloved wolf, her fingernails ran across his shoulder blades and back, leaving long, narrow cuts in his flesh. The dark green blood of the Flower Maiden and red blood of the white wolf had joined in a single lake of blood. The end was nearer yet.

"We would not have met had the flowers not protected you. Kiba, because you protected this one, flowers will return and bloom once more. So, when the world is reborn and paradise opens, we will meet again," she promised.

"This one will be waiting for you. Find this one," Cheza whispered. "Next time, the paradise you hoped for will be…"

In Kiba's blood-streaked arms, the Flower Maiden disappeared, becoming nothing but the countless thousands of lunar flower seeds that spread across the vast and frozen globe.

"Cheza!" Kiba gasped, as she disappeared. It had not taken three seconds for her to disappear. Nothing remained of his beloved Cheza, except for the seeds, and her tattered remains of clothes, and a single, browned lunar flower buried amongst the bundle of white fabric.

Baring his sharp teeth in pain, Kiba clutched the remainder of Cheza's clothing to his chest, tears falling down his face in sorrowful streams.

"**NO!**" Kiba roared, throwing his head back, bellowing unto the dark sky, enlightened only by the red moon.

_If only tears could bring you back…to me. _

**A/N: Please review. **

**~Sheba~**


End file.
